The Morning Wrap: Delhi Gears Up For Odd-Even Phase 2; Djokovic Was Offered $200,000 To Throw A Match

The Morning Wrap is HuffPost India's selection of interesting news and opinion from the day's newspapers. Subscribe here to receive it in your inbox each weekday morning.

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Fixing scandal rocked tennis as world number one Novak Djokovic revealed that in 2007 he was offered $200,000 to throw a match in Russia. He questioned the logic in allowing betting companies to sponsor big tennis tournaments.

The Delhi government is gearing up to implement the second phase of the odd-even scheme after March. But it sought to address two major concerns related to commuting by schoolchildren and the possibility of people going for another car to circumvent the restrictions.

A bill to ban child marriage in Pakistan was withdrawn for being “un-Islamic". This is the second time in a week where such an attempt to thwart practices of marrying girls below 18 years of age was stopped.

Jammu and Kashmir remained in a political limbo 10 days after the death of its Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. His daughter Mehbooba Mufti, who succeeds him as chief of the Peoples Democratic Party, still hasn't confirmed her party's alliance with the BJP. The state is currently under Governor's Rule.

The 62 richest people on earth now hold as much wealth as the poorest 3.5 billion. Five years ago, it took 388 rich guys to achieve that status. “No one credible will say this is good for the world or good for the economy,” said Gawain Kripke, Oxfam's Policy Director.

Main News

The University of Hyderabad turned into a battlefield as students protesting against the suicide of research scholar Rohith Vemula clashed with police. After the post-mortem, the Vemula family performed the last rites at Amberpet crematorium. Meanwhile, an FIR was filed against Union Minister of State for Labour (independent charge) Bandaru Dattatreya under the SC/ST Act. The university vice-chancellor Appa Rao Podile was also named in it.

The Supreme Court asked the government to explain whether Sikhs could be treated as a minority in Punjab where they constituted 75% of the population. The question came in the context of a case related to the demand by the Punjab government and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) for minority status for SGPC-run educational institutions.

India's 67th Republic Day celebration, with French President Francois Hollande as chief guest, faced a “real threat” from ISIS, said sources. At a security review chaired by the Home Minister, it was decided that all tableaux will be guarded by the Border Security Force.

The coming months will be decisive for the Congress. Since being ousted from the Centre in May 2014, the party has shrunk to ruling just five “mainstream" states. Of these, Kerala and Assam face elections now, while Uttarakhand will be up for grabs next January.

DMK chief Karunanidhi made a rare court appearance in a defamation case filed by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. “What was defaming is not known to them (to the government) nor to us. Only the government should say what it is that it found defaming,” he said.

A Kerala sculptor won Rs 30,000 as compensation because a soap endorsed by Malayali actor Mammootty did not make him “fair”. After using the “fairness soap” by popular Kerala brand Indulekha for over a year, when K Chaathu, 67, didn't see any difference in his skin tone, he decided to take action.

Eight children from South India are among the 25 National Bravery Award winners this year. The winners will receive the award, a medal, a certificate and cash prize from Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence on January 24.

Visitors of the International Kolkata Book Fair can catch a glimpse of the 39-year-long journey of the fair this year. At the 40th edition of the book fair, installations depicting its “historic achievements” will be set up. A mobile app is also available for visitors to locate their favourites among the 600 stalls.

Opinion

It is important to recognize that the defining value of the Pakistani military-jihadi complex is that reconciliation with India is detrimental to its interests and survival. It explains why previous negotiations, however close they might have been to a solution, have failed; the complex strikes back whenever it feels threatened. This column in Mint explains why India is better served by leaving the handling of its Pakistan policy to civil servants and diplomats, rather than its political leadership.

The emerging West Asia has little in common with India’s outdated perceptions of the region. Persisting with the traditional political timidity and posturing will cost India dearly, writes C Raja Mohan in The Indian Express.

Frequent polls in the country should be discouraged as they not only take a heavy toll on governance, but also destabilise the duly-elected governments and impose a heavy burden on the exchequer, says A Surya Prakash in The Pioneer.